Had a phone call this week with the lady who will be working with us as we complete our dossier.  What is a dossier?  It's a fancy way of saying "a whole lot of paperwork."  Dale and I feel like we're putting in 17-18 hour days every day, as we're putting in a full day with the kids, and then when they go to bed, we're working on more "stuff" until about midnight every evening.  It's like being back in college all over again.  At least this time, the prize will be much more rewarding!

Just to give you an idea of some of the things we have to work on:  Today we went to the Health Department to pick up certified copies of our birth certificates.  I also ordered a certified copy of our marriage license.  Dale scheduled us to go to jail next Thursday afternoon.  Yes, you read that right, but we're not in trouble!  We have to be fingerprinted and request criminal background checks for both of us.  Our children SO do not understand that one!  After we receive those documents, we have to send them to the FBI headquarters in West Virginia to be cleared through the FBI.  Apparently, this whole background check process can take quite some time and has the potential to hold up our homestudy, so it's imperative that we start this immediately.

Next on our list of things to do is meet with the doctor at Oak Adoptive Health Center at Akron Children's Hospital to go over our medical conditions checklist.  Because we are willing to accept a child with special needs, we need to meet with a doctor who specializes in international adoption.  She can counsel us on the possible conditions we could see in orphans, and she will help us complete a checklist which says which special needs would be a suitable fit for our family.  She will also help us later on in the process, providing guidance when we receive a referral for the actual child we will receive, and providing the initial care for our child when we bring her home.  Oh, by the way, the initial consult and referral visit are not covered by insurance.  :)

Oh, this is awesome too... Once we complete this plethora of documents and have all of them notarized, we get to head down to Columbus to have them state certified by the Secretary of State.  I say a visit to Easton or Polaris might be required with that trip!  It's possible we might have to get the documents county certified before we head to Columbus; we'll find that out at some point.  Do I sound like an expert yet?  I just learned all this on Thursday.

This is just a little glimpse into the mountain of paperwork and "running around" that Dale and I have ahead of us.  We would appreciate your prayers that we are able to complete everything in a timely manner, and of course, that God would continue to provide the funds necessary to bring our little Camellia home.

~Nicole